The anti-Tottenham conspiracy?

In the last thirty years there have been things I have had to endure as a Tottenham supporter. Many I have to say inflicted by those eleven men on the pitch in the lillywhite shirt. The League cup final loss to Liverpool in 1982, Cup final loss to Coventry in 1987, the cup semi final losses to Arsenal in 1993 and 2001 and to Portsmouth last year spring to mind amongst others as disappointments. Sol Campbells' defection to Arsenal also rates as a major disappointment.

Off the field we have suffered more than most: Irving Scholar nearly running us into the ground, Alan Sugar's lack of investment and foresight and a conveyor belt of managers coming in and out the door.

We have incurred the wrath of both the Premier League and UEFA. The Premier League for some transfer irregularities that initially gave us a points deduction and suspension form the FA cup and from UEFA initially barring us from Uefa competitions for fielding a youth team in the inaugural season of the inter toto cup.

But nothing here has compared to some ridiculous decisions in the most crucial games for us in recent years. Now I had the assumption there was just a Manchester Untied bias. We all remember the Pedro Mendes goal that never was and the penalty that shouldn't have been to get Manchester United back into the game when they were 2-0 down and this season's ridiculous decision to award a Nani goal after he had attempted to score a try across the Tottenham penalty area.

Then there was last season's game at Anfield when Defoe's goal was ruled out after he had challenged their goalkeeper fairly and Crouchb was not awarded a penalty for the most blatant of fouls.

So roll on Stamford Bridge, a game Spurs absolutely had to win. Sandro scored a stunning goal and half time is fast approaching when Gomes fumbles a shot by Lampard to allow the ball to trickle towards the line, before it is stopped prior to crossing the line, we all think play on however the linesman decides to award the goal.

Sometimes these things happen but late in the game Chelsea go in front when Kalou is clearly offside. Two goals which should not have been awarded may cause Spurs to fail to qualify for the Champions League next season and more importantly robbed Spurs of their first win at Stamford Bridge in 21 years.

The question is whether there is some sort of bias against Spurs. It just so happens we have suffered some bad decisions when playing away at three of the four most successful sides in recent years. But just look at the sort of disrespect Spurs get in the press on a week to week basis. Whether it be our best players about to be sold to so called bigger clubs, or inaccurate reporting of our financial position or our teams performance.

The fact is that while I wouldn't accuse the officials of being corrupt or purposely making decisions biased in one direction, I can't help but think on some sub conscious level there is an anti Tottenham conspiracy in the football world.